Johns Manville Launches Engineered Products at Filtration 2006

DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Johns Manville Engineered Products Group (EPG) will be attending Filtration 2006, a nonwoven industry tradeshow being held in Philadelphia, Pa, USA, November 28 to 30 – booth # 602.

At the trade event sponsored by the Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry (INDA), Johns Manville (JM) will introduce three new filtration products that offer added value to the filtration markets and help filter manufacturers expand their product lines and increase sales.

“Our global presence, technological know-how, and vast selection of filtration products including these three market-leading new products, demonstrate Johns Manville’s strong commitment to innovation,” said Fred Stephan, vice president and general manager, High Performance Nonwovens for JM’s Engineered Products Group.

Composite Air Media: The first product to be debuted is Johns Manville’s Composite Air Media. Composite Air Media is a composite nonwoven material made of natural and synthetic fibers developed for residential, light-commercial and industrial HVAC applications. The media products are currently able to meet MERV 6 and 7 efficiency requirements and are characterized by low pressure drop and consistent mechanical filtration efficiency throughout the expected life of a filter manufactured with the media. Additionally, new media targeting the MERV 8 to 12 ranges are expected to be available in the near future.

PP and PBT Meltblown Media: The next product to bow at Filtration 2006 is Johns Manville’s newly-enhanced polypropelene and polyester (PBT) Meltblown Media for liquid and air filtration. These products feature a mean pore size range between 0.2 to 10 microns that can be optimized to meet specific customer requirements for highly selective particle retention. Extremely small pore sizes, together with the narrow pore-size distribution, leads to best-in-class particle retention. The resulting performance allows filters to be extremely efficient in micro and particle filtration.

Biosoluble Glass Microfiber: A huge breakthrough in glass microfiber nonwovens is making its debut at Filtration 2006. Johns Manville has created a new class of glass microfiber with a unique chemical composition. An ultra-small fiber used in manufacturing HEPA/ULPA-class mechanical filters, biosoluble glass microfiber is ideal for products for manufacturers conforming to ASHRAE standards. Through a patented glass formulation, the microfiber has been designed to meet the European Union’s rigorous biosolubility criteria, and initial testing results have shown that the new glass microfiber is passing bisolubility requirements.

“It is about listening to market demands and exceeding customer expectations. These new materials, some never before seen in this industry, enable our customers to create category-leading filtration products,” said J.P. Blanchard, global market development manager for Johns Manville’s Engineered Products Group. “Johns Manville’s rigorous product advancement program combined with our Six Sigma discipline enables our Engineered Products Group to raise the bar to meet and even exceed the ever-changing demands of our customers.”

About Johns Manville Engineered Products Group (EPG)

Johns Manville, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is a leading manufacturer and marketer of premium-quality building and specialty products. The Johns Manville Engineered Products Group (EPG) is one of Johns Manville’s two strategic business units producing glass fibers, glass fiber nonwovens, biosoluble glass microfiber, polyester spunbonds, meltblowns and glass textile wallcoverings at EPG manufacturing locations worldwide: Spartanburg, S.C.; Waterville, Ohio; Richland, Miss.; and Etowah, Tenn., USA; Berlin, Bobingen, Karlstein, Steinach and Wertheim, Germany; St. Helens, UK; Oskarstrom and Helsingborg, Sweden; Trnava, Slovakia; and Shanghai and Luoyang, China. Additional information can be found at www.jm.com.